01:56 PM Sunday, February 11, 2024
Dialogue – Ahmed Gomaa:
Photography – Nader Nabil:
Dr. Menen Abdel Maksoud, Secretary-General of the General Secretariat of Mental Health and Addiction Treatment at the Ministry of Health, revealed the details of the new mental health initiative, which is divided into three sub-initiatives that include: early detection of autism spectrum disorders, combating excessive use of the Internet and electronic games, and combating and treating addiction.
Abdel Maqsoud said in an interview with Masrawy that the secretariat had formed psychological support teams for the injured coming from the Gaza Strip for treatment in Egyptian hospitals, as well as to support the medical teams treating them, while the hotline for psychological consultations received a number of calls from within the Strip requesting psychological support. And the text of the dialogue:
* In the beginning.. What did you provide in the psychological support file for those injured in Gaza?
The psychological counseling hotline “16328”, which has been operating around the clock since 2020 at the peak of the Corona pandemic, was equipped to work 24 hours a day to receive citizens’ inquiries and deal with the psychological crises they suffer from. It receives calls from all parts of the republic, and during the war on Gaza it was It is equipped to receive calls from Palestine, and provides psychological support to those who need it, and we have already received calls from inside Gaza.
As for psychological support for the injured coming from Gaza, since last November we began providing psychological support services to the brothers who arrived in Egypt through the Rafah crossing and are being treated in Egyptian hospitals. In North Sinai hospitals, we began sending specialized teams to remain for 24 hours in all hospitals that receive patients. From Gaza, and indeed we noticed that they made a difference not only with patients, but also with the medical teams and workers in those hospitals, many of whom reach the point of exhaustion due to the traumas they are exposed to from dealing with survivors of events, and the matter is extremely difficult.
There were difficult experiences for the Palestinians and the medical teams, and therefore the presence of psychological support at their side added value to them, and there was an improvement in their psychological and health conditions.
* This month marks 9 years since the opening of the “Oasis” clinics for psychological support.. What did you provide?
Indeed, last week we celebrated the 9th anniversary of the establishment of the Oasis Clinic to deal with psychological trauma, which began for children and then included services for adults, and provides its services to anyone suffering from psychological trauma or who has been exposed to it by obtaining behavioral and cognitive treatment or drug treatment if needed, but its work Basic behavioral therapy.
Many people are attending treatment and recovering from the crisis they are experiencing, and these clinics are present in many hospitals, including: Abbasiya, Helwan, Maamoura, Assiut and Minya.
* Speaking of psychological disorders… What is the state of Egyptians’ mental health now?
The beautiful and promising thing in this context is that what we mentioned several years ago is that psychological distress includes a quarter of Egyptians in 2020 after the Corona pandemic. This percentage has decreased significantly during the recent period because people have begun to recognize their problems more and treat them faster, and this is a positive thing.
* What are the details of the new details of mental health, which are divided into three sub-initiatives for adolescents?
For years, the 100 Million Health Initiative has been targeting the most common and influential diseases. For many years, mental health has not received the utmost importance, not only in Egypt but also globally. However, we are currently proud that Egypt places mental health at the top of its health agenda, because mental health is an important part. Public health will not be complete unless mental health is stable.
The initiative has more than one axis, but we started with three axes that we consider necessary and that attention must be drawn to in order to provide more services to the target groups. It includes 3 sub-initiatives: early detection of autism spectrum disorders, combating excessive use of the Internet and electronic games, and combating and treating addiction.
We have already started working on the autism initiative, but the propaganda has not yet begun, but we are receiving and starting to register statistical data and receive citizens.
* Why was autism spectrum disorder chosen to implement its initiative?
Autism disorder is one of the disorders that “should occur early,” and therefore early detection is essential for treatment intervention, because late detection and at a certain age, the results of interventions are not the best, and therefore this was the idea.
We aimed to conduct an evaluation of children at the age of one and a half years by asking mothers who go to health units periodically about their children’s skills. The child may have autism disorder, and if the child’s autism is suspected, we give the mother some skills to implement them because sometimes there are some diseases whose symptoms are similar to autism. Such as environmental poverty, and through these guidelines improves symptoms.
Then he is checked on again when he reaches two years of age, and if there is no improvement, the mothers are given intensive training for a period of 3 or 4 months in the form of groups, and they are taught how to deal within the home and how to improve the child’s skills, whether verbal or non-verbal.
* What is the first sign through which mothers might discover that their child has autism?
Autism may appear from the first years, and since the birth of her child, the mother notices a problem in making eye contact with the children or not paying attention to her. Some mothers may imagine that the child does not hear her, even though the child would normally be attentive to his mother and reassured with her, but the child does not have it. These skills include imitation of signs and speech.
There are children who are born naturally, but when they reach a year and a half, their skills decline, such as a decline in speech or signs, and this is when the mother notices this.
Also, an autistic child cannot tolerate changing the daily routine, and delayed language and communication are the most common in the disease and mothers notice it more.
* What is the rate of autism in children?
Globally, there are some studies that talk about 1% of children suffering from autism, and there are other studies that indicate 1 in every 58 children, and other studies that talk about 1 in 36 children, and therefore the numbers are large and not low, but we have a great opportunity to treat children in the early stages of life by learning a lot. It is one of the skills that helps them in their lives, and therefore the earlier the intervention, the better the improvement.
* What will the initiative offer to children on the autism spectrum?
In the beginning, we will conduct a survey of the children and train the parents, which is training approved by the World Health Organization. Its goal is to improve the children’s skills with their parents, which is one of the important interventions. Thirdly, if there is no improvement in these methods, we will begin conducting very accurate tests to reach an accurate diagnosis through psychiatrists, speech-language pathologists, and specialists. Then develop a treatment plan that varies from one child to another depending on the severity of the symptoms and the mother’s level of rehabilitation.
In addition, children suffer from accompanying disorders, such as autism and depression, autism and anxiety, or autism and hyperactivity, and therefore according to the accompanying disorder, a treatment plan will be developed. There are medications for the accompanying disorders that will help the child, but autism itself does not have therapeutic medications, but there are certain medications. Helps control symptoms.
Therefore, these services will be provided to the child according to his diagnosis, and treatment will be provided free of charge.
*What are the details of the first phase of this initiative?
The first stage will be in Cairo, and will begin with the health units where mothers turn to get their children vaccinated.
*Are health units qualified to detect autism?
This is what we are currently doing, by rehabilitating them, and there are questionnaires that are standardized globally and are used in Egypt, and are suitable for the Egyptian environment, and very simple, and if mothers wish, they can turn to the National Platform for Mental Health, and you will find them available through the “Check on your son” icon, and this is one of the tools. used.
* What about the initiative to combat excessive use of the Internet and electronic games?
After the Corona period, there was excessive use of the Internet, especially among teenagers, as a result of the trend towards the closure policy, including the cessation of studies. As a result, teenagers turned to electronic games more, which resulted in the so-called incorrect use of the Internet and electronic games, while the World Health Organization adopted… Recently, there is a disease called “electronic gaming disorder” because symptoms similar to addiction appear, where the person spends long periods of time, exceeding 8 hours, in front of the Internet and is unable to stop. There is an increase in the number of hours, and it has become his only enjoyment, and if these games are stopped, he may go into a state of severe agitation.
An important part of this initiative is awareness, because many families do not know this, and sometimes some families encourage their children to continue using the Internet.
The first stage is being prepared, by preparing a questionnaire that will be published on the national platform as well as the media, where they will be asked about their information, then raise awareness, and then implement the questionnaire again to find out the extent to which the degree of awareness has increased regarding the danger of Internet addiction, and therefore there is an important preventive part in this initiative.
* What will you do if a teenager reaches the stage of Internet addiction?
There is a more specialized questionnaire that will be available on the platform, the results of which will show the extent of the need for specialized assistance or just advice for dealing and assistance.
What worries the most among teenagers is the fear of accompanying disorders. Many teenagers who suffer from addiction to the Internet and electronic games suffer from social anxiety and fear of merging with people. They prefer to interact from behind a screen, whether a mobile phone or a laptop, and live in a virtual life because they cannot live. In normal life, their condition is evaluated in a specialized manner, and there are camps that help them get rid of this disease. We may need medications or be hospitalized depending on the evaluation of the condition.
* Is the rate of addiction to the Internet and electronic games high in Egypt?
In general, both adults and children, it is not a large percentage, but among teenagers, a study was conducted in schools, and the percentage was 20 percent who use the Internet and electronic games for more than 6 hours. This is a very large number, and it is called misuse, and the matter is increasing significantly.
Therefore, the initiative to combat excessive use of the Internet and electronic games begins with awareness in the first place.
* What are the details of the third initiative to combat and treat addiction?
The latest research carried out in 2021 showed that the rate of adolescent addiction is increasing, and their knowledge about narcotic substances increases, and therefore intervention has become necessary, because we care about the adolescent group and making them aware of addiction and its dangers because this period represents the gateway to entering a dangerous stage, and all international studies confirm that prevention in… This age is even more impressive.
2024-02-11 11:56:00
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